You are here

Camp JRF

Camp JRF fills the summer with fun, friendships, and Jewish living. Our summer camp is a joyful, creative, and inclusive Reconstructionist community. Campers swim, play soccer, basketball, baseball, volleyball, and other sports. They sing and explore other arts. They learn from visiting artists, scholars, and rabbis, as well from talented specialists and dedicated college-age counselors. Our campers make lasting friendships, experience a safe and fun summer, explore Jewish tradition, forge their own Jewish identity, and participate in creating a Jewish culture in which our values are lived each day.

Reconstructionism is a progressive approach to Jewish life which integrates a deep respect for traditional Judaism with the insights of today. At Camp JRF, we not only teach Jewish living skills, but we also create a warm and caring community where campers can build character and learn a deep respect for Jewish tradition and what it has to offer in everyday life.

Located on the Aaron and Marjorie Ziegelman Campus in the Pocono Mountains, we are within easy driving distance of New York, Philadelphia, Boston, and Maryland, and a short flight from the rest of the continent. The site is on 120 acres of beautifully wooded land in South Sterling, Pennsylvania, and includes a waterfront with canoes and kayaks; a low and high ropes course and climbing wall; a heated swimming pool; endless hiking trails; a baseball diamond, tennis courts, and volleyball courts, basketball courts, archery and athletic fields; a state-of-the art theater; an arts and crafts center; an indoor athletic facility and a complete wellness center.

Our campers range in age from eight to seventeen and come from communities across North America, Israel and the world, forming a vibrant, unique and exciting Jewish community in the woods. They are supported by mature staff members who believe in Reconstructionist values and in the importance of positive Jewish experiences for youth. The camp community is completed by a core group of faculty members - rabbis, educators, cantors, rabbinical students, and youth workers - who help to incorporate Jewish learning into each part of the camp program. Everyone comes together to form a community like no other, a community which is certainly not to be missed!